This book is a thorough introduction to Java Message Service (JMS), the standard Java application program interface (API) from Sun Microsystems that supports the formal communication known as "messaging" between computers in a network. JMS provides a common interface to standard messaging protocols and to special messaging services in support of Java programs. The messages exchange crucial data between computers, rather than between users--information such as event notification and service requests. Messaging is often used to coordinate programs in dissimilar systems or written in different programming languages. Using the JMS interface, a programmer can invoke the messaging services of IBM's MQSeries, Progress Software's SonicMQ, and other popular messaging product vendors. In addition, JMS supports messages that contain serialized Java objects and messages that contain Extensible Markup Language (XML) pages. Messaging is a powerful new paradigm that makes it easier to uncouple different parts of an enterprise application. Messaging clients work by sending messages to a message server, which is responsible for delivering the messages to their destination. Message delivery is asynchronous, meaning that the client can continue working without waiting for the message to be delivered. The contents of the message can be anything from a simple text string to a serialized Java object or an XML document. Java Message Service shows how to build applications using the point-to-point and publish-and-subscribe models; how to use features like transactions and durable subscriptions to make an application reliable; and how to use messaging within Enterprise JavaBeans. It also introduces a new EJB type, the MessageDrivenBean, that is part of EJB 2.0, and discusses integration of messaging into J2EE.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 32 Ratings

Solid update to a standard reference - 2009-07-10
Reviewer Rating:
I learned JMS originally from the first edition of this book, so was interested to see how the material had changed. The second edition is significantly expanded (about 50% longer) but is still a quick read that builds very well on concepts from one chapter to the next.

Chapter 1 offers a thorough understanding of the use cases and maps it to core concepts in the JMS API. The next four chapters then develop this through successive examples; by the end of chapter 5 the reader understands both the point-to-point and publish/subscribe models. Subsequent chapters detail advanced features, container-managed messaging through EJB and Spring, and design / deployment.

The most welcome addition is the large chapter on Spring, which covers both JmsTemplate and message-driven POJOs; this will be of special interest to readers building enterprise apps who wish to avoid the overhead of a J2EE container. By contrast, the chapter on message-driven beans is unusually light; I was hoping for a bit more detail, for example 2PC involving a queue and database.

Overall the second edition offers excellent coverage to developers who need a fast start with JMS. It's thorough enough to help make decisions on messaging design but short enough to be absorbed in a day or two. And the use of Apache ActiveMQ for the examples means that, unlike with some other books on JMS, you don't have to buy commercial middleware to learn the material.

Complete JMS Reference including Spring Framework - 2009-10-14
Reviewer Rating:
If you wanted to start learning JMS from scratch and be able to run a small, but real-life application, then this is the book for you. Authors do a great job of explaining Java Message Service theory. I guess this comes from their real-life experiences in running mission-critical, transaction oriented applications.

In the beginning, the book explains the innards of a JMS Message. Then both type of messaging Point-to-Point and Publish-and-Subscribe are detailed. Next chapters
cover Message Filtering, Guaranteed Messaging and Transactions.

Later two chapers provide information on advanced topics like design and deployment issues. These include Performance, Scalability, and Reliability, Security. Also explained are mostly overlooked topics like Multicasting and Inter-System Messaging. The last chapter highlights Request/Reply Messaging Design and most importantly, Messaging Design Anti-Patterns (DON'TS).

The book teaches you how to use JMS with Spring Framework and Apache ActiveMQ. Rarely, one comes across a book that has working code examples. With little background, I could set up the sample code with apache ActiveMQ in half an hour. Authors have also included examples of the same code with IBM Websphere MQ, that should be useful in corporate environments.

Excellent Introduction... it will get you started - 2007-05-19
Reviewer Rating:
If you are looking into JMS for use at work or you are just curious, this straight-to-the-point and easy read will start you on your way. While not going into absurd depth about the topic, the author provides a wonderful overview and core knowledge transfer for the reader.

Quick and easy to read, this no-fluff title will give you everything you need to get started with JMS.

If you are a beginner, this will get you started off with an extremely solid foundation. If you are a pro, it will give you a great "step-back view" of the methodology that you are utilizing.

Good for all, but recommended as EVERYONE'S introduction to JMS.

Decent Book - 2006-12-08
Reviewer Rating:
As a beginner to JMS, I found this book to be very useful. Most chapters have examples and the book also gives you the link where you can download code for the examples. The examples are simple and clear for the most part (except in couple of places) to illustrate the concepts related to JMS. I tested the code on BEA Weblogic Server and it runs fine without any problem. There are some minor errors in one or two examples but they can be spotted readily once you read the book and you should be able to fix them with relative ease. Overall I found this book to be a nice introduction to JMS. However, as another reviewer mentioned, keep in mind that this book is now more than 5 years old and JMS has been updated since then. Still it is a good buy if you are new to this topic.

Good introduction but need some updating to JMS 1.1 - 2005-12-04
Reviewer Rating:
This is a reasonable good book, as you can expect from O'Reilly. There is a good introduction in the topic (e.g. where is Messaging used for, what kind of messaging does exist, what is JMS), and it offers chapters with some practical code how you send and receive messages, and so on. It contains real Java code with excellent explanation.

If you're familar with Java, don't know anything of Middleware and JMS, this is a pretty good start. If you read this book, and you play with an free open source JMS implementation (e.g. ActiveMQ), you will soon get things working.

*HOWEVER* This book is now arround 5 years old and *ONLY* covers JMS 1.02, where JMS 1.1 is now common.

*BUT* the majority of all other JMS books are also 3-5 years old, and some also covers only JMS 1.02.

If you keep this in mind, I think this is a pretty good purchase.

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